Alison Roman Night
Alison Roman Night is an homage to the Queen of ‘Nothing Fancy,’ and creating recipes that are relatable and ready for sharing with friends!
Alison Roman Night is the perfect way to gather your people around REALLY good food and a dinner party that will have everyone exchanging recipes and begging for more.
Alright, y’all! Here is one evening you have GOT TO have at your house! Alison Roman Night is filled with recipes that are more than flavorful and super easy to prepare.
Cookbook Club is in full swing after a night of eating and enjoying Alison Roman recipes from Nothing Fancy and Dining In.
How to Throw an Alison Roman Dinner Party
First, start by sending a Paperless Post invite — as much as we say “Come on over!” you will want to plan ahead and know who is coming, and what they are bringing.
However, when you’re hosting a specific theme, like this Alison Roman Night, you’ll want to have some recipes ready to go along with each other when people ask what they can bring.
The usual items to include in a dinner party are:
- Appetizer
- Cocktail/Drink
- Main dish
- 2-3 side dishes
- One Salad
- One Dessert
If I am hosting, I will most likely make the main dish — it’s easier that way! No one wants to pack up 12 grilled chicken breasts and try to keep them perfectly hot and cooked, and all the things!
In other words for this fun party idea, we all chose recipes made by the Queen herself, Ms. Alison Roman!
What to Serve:
- Cocktail: A Very Fine Spritz Bar (Nothing Fancy)
- Main Dish: Olive Oil-Roasted Chicken With Caramelized Carrots
- 1 Side Dish: Sauteed Collard Greens with Caramelized Miso Butter
- 2 Side Dish: Harrisa and Maple Roasted Carrots
- 3 Side Dish: Frizzled Chick Peas with Oregano and Feta (Nothing Fancy)
- 4 Side Dish: Creamy Cauliflower and Onion Gratin (Nothing Fancy)
- Salad: Iceberg Salad with Pecorino, Olives and Pickled Chile
What to do ahead of time:
Next, in order for your dinner party to feel truly effortless, you’ll need to do a little bit of work ahead of time.
Make a game plan! This is everything you’ll need to keep yourself calm, cool, and collected.
For a Saturday evening dinner, here is what you can do ahead of time:
- Thursday evening: count your people, and make sure you have enough plates, flatware, and glasses. If you are able, go ahead and set them close to the table you’ll gather around.
- Friday: If you are making the main dish, dry brine your chicken. If you are unfamiliar with dry brining, you can read up on it in this post.
- Saturday morning: set the table, gather your serving dishes and utensils, and label each one with a sticky note.
- Saturday late afternoon: Take chicken out of the fridge and allow to come to ‘heat up’ before adding to the braiser dish.
You can tell from the picture this was a very casual dinner party! We’ve got Christmas napkins, a plethora of placemats, mismatched china and glasses, and everything is in the center of the table.
If you’re not familiar with family-style serving, it’s the Norman Rockwell picture you see where the table is filled with food and you pass it around and help your neighbor.
I don’t serve this way very often, but when I want a casual feel, or don’t want to bother with a centerpiece, this is what I do.
Finally, the best way to make your guests think entertaining is “effortless” is to be the cool cucumber! You are having people over for dinner — it is nothing fancy! Seriously.
If you don’t host a lot, what holds you back? Let me know in the comments below!
Save this to your favorite Easy Entertaining Ideas Pinterest Board!
I’m sure you all had a wonderful time. Such great food you all made.
I love a good dinner party to enjoy food and good conversation with friends! That main dish of olive oil roasted chicken looks so good! Can’t wait to try it!
What a fun looking night! I’ve been meaning to get her latest cookbook!
This looks like a great chill night plan to celebrate with neighbors and friends. I love that the recipes aren’t too over the top and seem easy to make!
Look at all that amazing food! I just love this idea. I’m going to be scheduling one soon myself. Love it!